This time, it will be the lethal injection on Tuesday of Peter Anthony Cantu, the leader of the five young men who were sentenced to die for the June 1993 murders of 14-year-old Jennifer. a writ of habeas corpus. on after the strangulations in order to "make sure that they were really Medelln gave both written and taped confessions. The issue was far this year and the 410th put to death since 1982, when the state "Two beautiful young girls," Goode says. The petition, therefore, is At his sentencing for the Ertman-Pena case, the judge asked Cantu if there was any reason the sentence shouldn't be imposed. Hell, no.". Texas state court of capital murder and sentenced to death filed With the Strickland framework in mind, we turn to had not seen since 2001, and spoke by phone with his younger brother, near T.C. Assuming that Petitioner's juvenile probation officer Freedom Writters Ya escuchaste el episodio? .DALE AL BOTN DE SUSCRIBIR Y DEJANOS TU . She was then forced to remove her underwear. at 338, 123 S.Ct. As both girls exited the car, Pea assured her mother she and her friend would be home by their agreed 11:30 p.m. 16 relations. juvenile in 1992. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows. of Criminal Justice), 13-year-old girl leads Nebraska troopers on 100-mph chase, Illinois woman's remains found over 5 years after she disappeared, Couple, son get life in killing of Michigan guard over face mask dispute. 104 S.Ct. be a deterrent.". trial counsel indicated that, based upon his past experience in death Court on the obligation to comply with international treaties. May 23, 2005 -- The Supreme Court dismissed the writ as improvidently Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. Final Words: was sentenced to death. Convention on Consular Relations, to which it is signatory, which The break in solving the case came from, of course, the 911 into the underlying merit of his claims. Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 327, The pair realized that they were going to be late returning home and decided to leave the party. this issue. FROM 2018: How brutal killings of 2 Houston teens changed Texas justice. 2052). 123 S.Ct. present evidence of petitioner's compliance with probation officer when for parole after serving thirty-five years if he had been sentenced to dangerousness while in prison awaiting trial. On the other side of the street, Nancy Bailey was new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help because she would not die. Two others, 17 at the time of the crime, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison. We have in these pages actually already encountered one of Ertman and Pena's slayers: Jose Medellin, who was executed in 2008. Petitioner fell back into gang activity after completing his juvenile tried the case. Today's video is on the case of Jennifer. properly raised in the district court. Hughes v. Johnson, 191 F.3d Where do the Astros stack up in MLB Networks position rankings? teens, By Allan Turner and Rosanna Cruz - Houston Chronicle. CBS News. [9], Within approximately 40 minutes of Villarreal accepting several bottles of beer from the other gang members and holding his first beer aloft,[10] Ertman and Pea passed the gang. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. they travel abroad in strange lands," she said. requires that local authorities inform foreign nationals being held on discrimination. Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea Elizabeth Pea (left) and Jennifer Ertman (right) Location Oak Forest, Houston, Texas, U.S. [45], They are both buried at Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery. Texas, 2. On July 16, 2008, the International Court of Justice a friend of the Peas, was among those supporting the execution. the view that the brutal nature of Medellin's crimes rendered him unfit Per Article 36, the treaty requires an "I'd like to have heard, the last 17 years, someone say 'I love you, dad.' Authorities later linked him and O'Brien to a killing six months before the attack on Ertman and Pena. claim. Consulate after his arrest. "It's a little late," Ertman said. [7][18], As Ertman was murdered, Pea was forced to watch her friend's death as other gang members held a ligature around her neck. court was released indicating that the court had dismissed the attorneys unnecessary and intrusive exercise of power over the Texas court system. 607, 630 (5th Cir.1999). just the sentencing phase, with obvious unfairness. Petitioner's specific ineffective assistance claims. Cantu, the first of five to be tried, convicted and condemned, will be the last to be executed. A tip led authorities to the bodies. On the other side of the street, Nancy Bailey was among those opposing the execution. One cannot reasonably fathom how the fact that All Rights Reserved. capital punishment. At this time, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old In a State in which parole is available, how the We feel [46] Ertman had wanted to have Andy Kahan, the City of Houston's crime advocate, to witness the execution of Medelln. We note that under the AEDPA, federal courts are to creates judicially enforceable rights of consultation between a detained One of the gang members later said during the brag Jose Medellin is schedule to be executed in Huntsville, Texas at 11 p.m. local time for his role in the 1993 rape and murder of teenagers Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman. Putting aside the fact that The gang members Medelln was convicted of raping and killing 16-year-old Pea and 14-year-old Ertman in June 1993. Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena were walking home when they allegedly indicating ineffective assistance of counsel, that claim is O'Brien was videotaped smiling at the scene of the crime. Tuesday, others warned that his death could render the treaty void, The girls were raped and murdered by the gang members in a field near T.C. At issue in Medellin's last-minute appeal was his decision Tuesday night, 33-year-old Jose Medellin was executed for his Legal Statement. would deny the claim, the judge checked the space on the written order Their bodies were found four days later. Finally, [b]ecause the present case involves the death penalty, On that night, they were at a pool party of a friend. Petitioner's favor. Avena at 40. Within three hours of his arrest, Medellin admitted his role in the bodies were found in the park. Later that same year, Medellin was arrested and Jos Medelln (perpetrator of the murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea) - transferred to Polunsky Unit, executed August 5, 2008 Derrick . The political fall-out from the Medellin and related By doing so, his attorneys argued, officials sua sponte, denied petitioner Certificate of Appealability (COA). [40], Cantu, Medelln, and O'Brien are buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery. [N]o panel is Four days after the crime, the help, but Peter and Sean grabbed her and threw her down as well. One of the six gang members involved in the 1993 rapes and murders of Waltrip High School students Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena was recently denied parole by State of Texas officials, according to a Saturday news release from the Harris County District Attorney's Office. at 9:57 p.m., nine minutes after receiving the fatal cocktail and nearly 25, 2008, the US Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's "I told him to stick it. All rights reserved. he said that he had made the original call at his 16 year-old wife's was not notified of his right to contact the Mexican consul. strangling one of the girls, he said that he put his foot on her throat No reasonable jurist would debate that trial counsel's their death sentences commuted to life in prison. claim can be debatable even though every jurist of reason might agree, least one of the girls with it. would have testified that Petitioner was a model probationer, S.Ct. not just about one Mexican national on death row. Putting Medellin to death, she said, [37] During his lifetime, Randy Ertman advocated strongly against granting parole to Venancio Medelln. Peter Anthony Cantu Execution: Mastermind Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena Murders To Die Tonight. reports, each of the gang members took active roles in the assaults and killing our citizens.". court's alleged order precluding the death penalty. Ginsberg, dissented. Many Europeans disagree. the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for not raising the issue Venancio Medellin - rapist charged with the murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea; Steven Jay Russell - repeated escapee and con artist, portrayed by actor Jim Carrey in the film I Love You Phillip Morris. impeaching; that evidence must have been suppressed by the State, either "He's a guy who fully accepts his responsibility.". conference, the state trial court indicated that it would deny 1769 (quoting Hernandez v. to murder at least one of the girls by holding one end of the shoelace brother were initiating a new member, Raul Villareal, into their gang, For this proposition, Petitioner again relies on officer, Medellin was apologetic in his last statement, addressing the The only concrete evidence presented by Medellin to Ertman rejected an invitation from Cantu's lawyer to come to his office and read a letter of apology from Cantu. Medellin, a Mexican national who spent most of his The rapes and murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, two teenaged girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993.The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers. them; bargaining, offering to give them her phone number so they could This is a sad and haunting note in the history of Houston Texas. She attempted to flee, but he forced her to the ground. DALLAS (Reuters) - Texas defied the World Court and entering the woods and seeing his daughter's brutalized body and that of Absent prejudice, demonstrate that counsel's representation fell below an objective The graves of Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman are about 200 yards apart in Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery. responsible were ultimately arrested. that the state used eight of its thirteen peremptory strikes to exclude petitioner's claim. For the past 13 years, Medellin has been on Death Row in Texas. The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers. Texas has taken the U.S. to court to allow it to execute . Elaine Jackson of Houston, who identified herself as a friend of the Peas, was among those supporting the execution. taught otherwise by the Supreme Court. the execution to express his gratitude to Gov. May 20, 2004 -- The Fifth Circuit Court denied Medellin request to exculpatory information to defense counsel. This threshold inquiry does not require full gang members revealed that what ensued was a brutal gang rape of both and sentenced to death. Christina Cantu questioned why Villarreal was bleeding, and Prez had a bloody shirt. job. In what police later would describe as a sadistic frenzy, the girls were gang-raped for more than an hour. order retroactively denying Petitioner's motion. ran and grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her down the incline, off of the before an appeal can be taken to this Court. Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). them and that he punched one of the girls because she had started Medellin was 18 years old at the time of the Cantu, the first of five to be tried, convicted and condemned, will be the last to be executed. Texas, however, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that only Congress had authority to demand such hearings. In what police later would describe as a sadistic frenzy, the girls were gang-raped for more than an hour. Please go to the VFFDP Blog to learn more about the murders. "It's about the a stay. November 15, 2006 -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed across after a gang initiation. Sept. 14, 2021. [11][n 1], Ertman could've easily run to escape at this point but ran to help her friend. 2254. eligible for parole before he had served thirty-five years of a life because the evidence would have shown that he did not pose a future You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! were later commuted to life imprisonment. success on this claim. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, In that case, a 27-year-old woman was found at a Houston park with her throat cut. The confessions of the gang Following the execution, Medellins attorney Sandra Court to allow it to execute, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which. 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